On August 4, 2023, certified translation platform AcudocX acquired Translato.ai, a US startup catering to self-service translations, including those related to immigration processes, university applications, and court proceedings.
AcudocX’s platform similarly deals in self-service translations, meaning clients can insert their personal data directly into templates. Certified translators edit customer entries and sign off on the translations, which the platform then reformats as needed and delivers to the customer.
In addition to certified translators and individual clients, users include language service providers (LSPs) and government agencies; migration and education agencies, for instance, can act as liaisons, uploading their clients’ documents for translation.
“These ‘birth certificate translations’ are renowned as being a high-effort, low-margin job for big LSPs,” AcudocX cofounder Dylan J Hartmann told Slator, explaining the appeal for companies that have not, historically, outsourced such work.
Hartmann, a NAATI-certified Thai-English translator, founded AcudocX in 2019, shortly before the pandemic closed international borders worldwide. During lockdown, the company refined its offerings to suit a select target group of users, eventually evolving to offer three portals serving freelancers, LSPs, and migration agencies, respectively.
Earlier in 2023, AcudocX developed a proof of concept for incorporating AI and machine learning, and initially connected with Translato.ai on the recommendation of a German-English translator.
Translato.ai founder Kyle Corbitt is a former Google software engineer and a Y Combinator director who will now serve as an advisor to AcudocX. Hartmann explained that the “acquisition,” technically an intellectual property deal, will not result in any changes to AcudocX’s organizational structure.
While Hartmann declined to share the terms of the deal or the companies’ financials, AcudocX has a dedicated team of seven, including Hartmann and fellow AcudocX cofounder Stephen St Baker.
In addition to proprietary and third-party technology, AcudocX — located in Brisbane — operates on AWS servers based in Sydney, Hatmann said. The goal of integrating Translato.ai’s AI capabilities is to improve and speed up customer translations, transitioning the company from a primarily “human-guided approach” to a more automated system with greater “ease of use.”
For translators, these integrations could boost revenues, as spending less time on each document can allow translators to complete more jobs in a given time frame.
One of AcudocX’s unique features is its Leaderboard, which ranks the most prolific translation providers — both LSPs and individuals — according to the volume of translations handled. “The ‘Leaderboard’ feature aligns with our approach to gamify the system and encourage healthy competition,” Hartmann said.